STORM DESCRIPTION
The first widespread winter storm of the 2005-2006 winter season
brought a mix of snow and freezing rain to most of New Jersey.

Synoptic Discussion
A storm system from the southern Plains advanced rapidly eastward
across the Mississippi and Tennessee Valleys during the day on Saturday
December 3rd, crossing the Appalachians during the night. By the
afternoon of Sunday the 4th, the storm had moved off the Mid-Atlantic
coast.

Local Discussion
Precipitation overspread the state between midnight and 3AM EST on the
4th. In most places it began in the form of snow, but started as rain
or freezing rain in the far south. As dawn approached, warm air moving
in aloft caused the precipitation to change from snow to a mixture of
freezing rain and sleet from southwest to northeast. The mixture had
overspread the rest of southern New Jersey by 6AM EST on the 4th and
overspread central New Jersey by 9AM EST on the 4th. Meanwhile, the
freezing rain and sleet changed to rain from south to north across most
of southern New Jersey by 9AM EST. The precipitation tapered off
between 7AM EST and 10AM EST on the 4th, early enough to prevent any
freezing rain from reaching far northern parts of the state, and early
enough to prevent plain rain from reaching central sections of the
state. Accumulations were highest in central New Jersey, with 2 to 4
inches accumulating across Essex, Union, Hunterdon, Somerset,
Middlesex, Monmouth and Mercer counties. The northern New Jersey
counties of Sussex, Warren, Morris, Passaic, Bergen and Hudson received
between 1 and 3 inches of snow. Burlington and Ocean counties in
southern New Jersey recieved between 1 and 2 inches of snow. Further
south, less than an inch accumulated across Camden, Gloucester, Salem,
Atlantic, Cumberland and Cape May counties. Ice accrual was generaly
one to two tenths of an inch or less.

New Jersey Snowfall TotalsIndividual Snowfall Totals from December 4,
2005